ProLiteracy Conference 2021 | Readability Matters

Join us in San Antonio!

The 2021 ProLiteracy Conference, September 20–22, 2021

Join adult literacy practitioners, teachers, tutors, managers, directors, board members, and students to learn new ideas and lead change in the adult literacy field. The ProLiteracy Conference on Adult Education features over 100 presentations and workshops that explore how organizations and practitioners can collaborate to build instructional capacity and deliver innovative, effective literacy services that benefit adult learners, their families, and our shared communities.

ProLiteracy Session
Tune Your Text: Tech to Support Readability of Digital Texts

Readability technologies give learners the power to alter text format to meet their individual reading needs. The EdTech [email protected] Education, Readability Matters, and Adobe present possibilities for enhanced readability of digital texts and share observations about the impact of personalized reading on adult literacy. First, Readability Matters and Adobe describe research from 2015 to now, including how small changes to text format yield immediate improvement in reading speed, accuracy, and comprehension. Then, the EdTech Center reports findings from field testing of a readability technology called Liquid Mode, tested with adult literacy instructors and learners on mobile devices.

The session closes with guidance for supporting personalized reading, presented through 1) an interactive demo of Liquid Mode, a free tool embedded into Adobe Reader using content drawn from World Education’s The Change Agent and 2) and a discussion of “readability hacks,” tools available today in existing reading products. Participants leave the session ready to employ:

• knowledge about readability in digital texts and how it impacts literacy development,
• innovative mobile tools to support personalized text preferences, and
• strategies for integrating these technologies and strategies into instruction.

This new knowledge will strengthen the capacity of all instructors with an interest in leveraging technology to better serve adult learners and enhance literacy development.

Originally published at https://readabilitymatters.org on May 26, 2021.